With scenes that are part documentary and part vignette, Rough Sex dares to challenge conventional wisdom about the fantasy lives of women. Through dramatic roleplaying, each woman shares her most intimate desires, tests her own boundaries, and rides the seductive line between pleasure and pain. Witness female sexuality at its most extreme: raw, rough and real.

Tristan Taormino goes beyond sex education with her new series about the pleasures of rough sex. It’s not Vivid Ed, but the approach is similar, with each scene preceded by the performers explaining why they’re drawn to rough stuff and defining what the term means to them.

This rather cautious approach yields some blistering, high octane sex encounters, at the same time easing the fear factor some consumers might feel approaching this often controversial subject. In short, it’s an excellent introduction for the uninitiated (i.e., folks who aren’t into Jake Malone’s work), but with enough raw heat to satisfy more experienced viewers.

The actors’ interviews lead into simple vignette setups, and what they say is often just as interesting as what they do.

It’s fascinating to hear Latin babe Satine Phoenix confess that she’d love to go home “black and blue, with rope marks and scratches—so I can see what happened,” but she can’t because as a porn star she must keep her body bruise-free for the camera.

Her scene with no-nonsense Derrick Pierce (“If I don’t think you’re paying attention I will definitely slap you”) is the roughest and hottest in the movie. Neither has any inhibitions about dishing out and lapping up consensual abuse.

But all the sex is hot, primarily because the women are really into it. You can see the orgasmic response of Adrianna Nicole to being choked while butt-fucked by Marco Banderas. And petite but passionate Francesca Lé goes over the top while dominating the much bigger and all too willing Christian.

Porn’s current It Girl, Sasha Grey, looks beautiful in her scene with alt-porn guy Danny Wild. She tells him she’s into degradation—“You can call me anything you want.” The best parts are when their playfulness gives way to something more intense, spontaneous and real.